For Niki Oudenaarden, walking away with the gold medal in heptathlon at the 2017 Canadian Track and Field Championships in Ottawa was the culmination of hard training and support from her coaches and family. After not being able to compete in 2016 of because of injuries, Oudenaarden hasn’t missed a step as the Paul Kane graduate took top spot in the national competition, beating out second place by 14 points.
The University of Calgary student credits coach Les Gramantik and the support she received from her family for helping her through the injuries and reigniting her passion for the sport.
“Last year I was borderline ready to quit the sport just because I was so frustrated with how my body was reacting. Les and my family were so incredibly supportive, and they stuck by me through it all,” Oudenaarden said.
The heptathlon is a seven-series event competition, which includes 100 metre hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-metre sprinting, long jump, javelin throw, and the 800-metre run. The scores of each event are added up to a final total, and for Oudenaarden, her goal was set firmly at the 6,000-point mark.
In the final event, the 800 metre run, Oudenaarden knew that she had to stay within five seconds of former teammate and close friend Sami Spenner if she wanted the gold.
“I latched to her for the first 700 metres, I was confident that I had it, then coming onto the hundred metre straight my legs just gave. We call it ‘having a monkey jumping on your back’, it felt like I had 1,000 pounds thrown on me and I couldn’t run. Coming through the final metres I thought I had lost it. If I had run four one-hundredths of a second slower I would’ve lost,” Oudenaarden said.
Her first-place finish in javelin throw, high jump, and shot put vaulted her into the top spot. Oudenaarden finished with 6,000 points on the nose.
“Finally getting into the 6,000 club is beyond amazing,” Oudenaarden said.
Since the results from Ottawa, Oudenaarden now holds the number 37 rank worldwide, and second across Canada.
In 2016, Oudenaarden’s injuries kept her out of the Olympic qualifiers that were being held in Edmonton.
“It was really hard to see all of my friends and peers competing. As proud as I was of all the success that they were having, it was hard not to be selfish in the moment. I was in Calgary at the time with one of my best friends, and we ended up avoiding my phone and staying off social media all day.”
Despite the setbacks last year, Oudenaarden is not looking back. Her sights are firmly set forwards as she prepares for her next event in Taiwan in August.
“I really want to win the competition in Taiwan. I believe if we continue training for the next couple months the way that we have then it’s definitely a possibility,” Oudenaarden said.
The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan is the goal for Oudenaarden moving forward. Despite not being able to participate in the trials in 2016, she knows the path she must take to achieve that.
“I probably wouldn’t have qualified last year even if I had been able to compete. The world standard is around 6,200 points, so there’s still some work I have to do to achieve that.” Oudenaarden said.
For Oudenaarden, being an athlete is more than just crossing the finish line first. She is involved in mentoring younger athletes through the Fast and Female program in Calgary.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am today without St. Albert and Calgary and the communities that I’ve been a part of. For some reason society put athletes on pedestals, and oftentimes we’re idols for kids and I think it’s great that we can be a part of those people’s lives. The social and community involvement aspect is something that I love about being an athlete,” Oudenaarden said.
